Not all favor push to reinstate I-747
Excerpts from his blog, Postman on Politics
With Democrats rushing to reinstate a statewide property-tax cap that the state Supreme Court just threw out, it’s hard to imagine that the Tim Eyman-sponsored measure was once thought of as a life-threatening political ploy.
Christian Sinderman, a political consultant who advises some of the Democratic officials now committed to approving a 1 percent tax cap, ran the 2001 campaign that tried to defeat Initiative 747. He said in the heat of the campaign that the tax cap would hurt services provided by local governments:
“We’re not saying the ambulance isn’t going to show up,” he said at the time. “We’re saying it might take longer, and that could cost lives.”
The criticism continued after it became law and was challenged in court. When a Superior Court judge ruled against the initiative, one attorney involved in the case was quoted as saying: “I-747 was actively harming the parks, schools, libraries, streets and other public investments required to manage growth successfully.”
Gov. Christine Gregoire now describes the tax cap in much the same way that Eyman did: It provides certainty to taxpayers. So she has called for a special legislative session next week to reinstate the cap.
The debate in Olympia now covers the political spectrum from Democrats saying the special session is needed to pass the cap to Republicans saying it’s about time.
But around the state there are people and groups that have not yet come to this position on I-747. There are those who paid for a nearly $900,000 campaign to stop the initiative on the ballot. And when that failed, other groups got involved in the successful legal challenge.
Today they watch with a growing sense of frustration and, in some corners, cynicism, as Democrats once again rush to put an Eyman idea into law.
“To go back to 1 percent, that’s just a knee-jerk reaction,” said Chris Dugovich, president of the Washington State Council of County and City Employees, the top funders of the 747 opposition campaign. “I just hope it’s not more about the elections next fall than good government.”
Dugovich’s union donated more than $200,000 to the campaign. Other Democratic supporters were big givers, too. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees gave $50,000. The Washington State Labor Council gave $30,000. Boeing and the Washington Education Association each put in $25,000. Microsoft’s Bill Gates gave $20,000. Paul Allen’s Vulcan gave $10,000.
Dugovich is resigned to the fact that the Legislature will impose a tax cap. He said, “There’s got to be some kind of thoughtful process, though,” because 1 percent is still too restrictive. He said he’d like to see a limit indexed to inflation.
The political campaign to stop I-747 fell far short. The measure passed with nearly 58 percent of the vote. It’s that overwhelming result that lawmakers are reacting to today. Voters in 37 of 39 counties approved the tax limit. Only those in King and Whitman counties voted no.
The Whitman County Commission became the lead plaintiff in the suit to overturn the initiative, along with the Seattle-based Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition and Futurewise, an environmental group.
Whitman County Commissioner Greg Partch said Monday that he, like Dugovich, is hoping for something more nuanced than a 1 percent, across-the-board, cap for every taxing district in the state.
“I don’t think a one-size-fits-all works for taxes,” he said. “One percent in Whitman County is $37,000. How far can you go on $37,000?
“They need to put things in perspective, and that’s what we’re hoping the Legislature will do.”
But Partch, a Republican who is chairman of the county commission this year, doesn’t sound optimistic.
“The people in the Legislature are running scared. Who in their right mind will take up a tough subject like property-tax reform? It’s going to take some people with a lot of guts to stand up and do it. And we’ll find out who those people are.”
Other plaintiffs are disappointed in the newfound enthusiasm for I-747 by Gregoire and Democratic lawmakers.
Erin Welch, interim executive director at the Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition, said she was surprised to hear the governor and Democratic lawmakers backing a 1 percent limit. She said that in a state with a regressive tax system, that would be “harmful to the community.”
It seems unlikely that the anti-747 forces will have much influence in the special session.
I wonder, though, what happens next year when Eyman pushes yet another initiative.
Are we to believe the horror stories opponents will tell about what will happen? And what to think when legislators - who will likely approve a 1 percent limit - next complain about the difficulties of governing by initiative?
There are those on the left who have long tried to say that Eyman is washed up. But the truth is he continues to be a powerful force in Washington. The Supreme Court can’t stop him. And now one of the largest Democratic majorities to ever run the Legislature has signed on to his team.
David Postman is The Seattle Times chief political reporter. He can be reached at 360-236-8267 or dpostman@seattletimes.com. This material has been edited for print publication.